A couple of weeks ago, a disturbance in the NASCAR Force was felt.
It came in the form of a Sports Business Journal article that boasted this headline:
“NASCAR Considers Upping Limit on Top Tier Drivers Moonlighting in Lower Series.”
The disturbance was the collective cry of NASCAR followers of a certain age who had lived through the days of what is now called Buschwhacking and lived to tell the tale.
A time when Kyle Busch won 10, 12 or 13 races a year in the NASCAR Busch/Nationwide/Xfinity Series.
The days of Austin Dillon winning the Xfinity title despite not winning a single race.
A period when NASCAR Cup Series drivers won every single Xfinity race in the 2006 season except one, with the only saving grace being a David Gilliland victory at Kentucky Speedway.
Eventually, NASCAR showed mercy on its Xfinity and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series drivers and beleaguered fans. It imposed a five-race limit in both series for drivers who have more than three years of full-time experience in the Cup Series.
But now, after years of both series being able to firmly establish their own identities, a successful first-year partnership with The CW and a new series sponsor on the way in the form of O’Reilly Auto Parts for the soon-to-be-former Xfinity Series, a sea change may be on the way.
NASCAR President Steve O’Donnell said the sanctioning body is “going to look” at its limits and “maybe make some changes down the road.”
“So we’ve certainly had conversations with The CW and in the Truck Series as well (about), ‘Does that rule as it stands now make the most sense to continue as it is?’ So we’re looking at a lot of things over the offseason and talking to a lot of the teams and drivers,” he said.
There’s an obvious culprit to why this is even being discussed.
“For the Love of the Money,” as The O’Jays sang back in 1973. The sponsorship kind and the TV kind.
A couple of weeks ago, Dillon was asked on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio about the prospect of making more Xfinity starts if Cup drivers were allowed more opportunities.
He was asked in the wake of making his second Xfinity start of the season at Richmond Raceway, albeit as a substitute driver for a suspended Austin Hill. His start in the spring race at Charlotte Motor Speedway was his first since 2023.
“I know it’s very interesting, from a CW standpoint, their ratings have been very good,” Dillon noted of ratings that have topped 1 million viewers for all but a couple of races. “I think more (sponsor) partners would probably be interested, and if we can get five to 10 races scheduled out there for Cup guys, it’d be easier to sell a sponsor on 10 races than five, maybe.
“And you can pair them together, and that makes more sense. If you get 10 and 10, you could put together 20 between myself and Kyle Busch. I know Kyle would be all about it, and I think his confidence really is at the right place when he’s running other racecars and he’s running the Xfinity Series, because let’s just be honest, he’s the greatest to ever do it in the Xfinity Series. He’s unbelievable.”
The CW loves how many people are watching its news sports property. Of course, it wants more to watch; who wouldn’t? It’s a natural impulse, the chase of the almighty dollar (it’s done wonders for NASCAR in the last 20 years, right? … Right?).
So how do you do that? Throw in some more Cup drivers, of course.
Seems like an easy fix, right?
I don’t know. Like I said, the lack of Cup drivers has done wonders for Xfinity and Trucks over the last few years.
After a decade or so of the Xfinity Series claiming “names are made here” while Cup drivers racked up the wins, it was refreshing to have that actually be a reality.
Sure, you have the occasional race where Kyle Larson or Shane van Gisbergen steps down and stomps the field. That’s acceptable when it’s not happening every other week.
No matter what changes NASCAR considers ahead of 2026, we can only hope the executive suite in Daytona Beach doesn’t overthink it and somehow overcorrects.
We need fewer Cup drivers in the lower tier series, not more. The best solution I’ve heard is if you’re not a Cup rookie, and you’ve won a race in the Cup series in the current or previous season you are banned from running in Trucks, Xfinity, or ARCA. Certainly the drivers capable of winning at the Cup level can’t argue that they need more seat time, so their only reason for dropping down is trophy hunting. The good news for sponsors is this would still leave plenty of big name drivers available, like Kyle Busch, Alex Bowman, Ty Gibbs, etc. If those drivers wanted to go to a place where they could REALLY make a big difference in attention in the lower levels they can make appearances at local short tracks.
The problem isn’t the cup drivers themselves racing in the lower series but cup drivers racing in the lower series in cars prepared by cup teams and pitted by cup crews.
I’m a bit annoyed by Cup pit crews working for the most prestigious Xfinity teams and essentially making the rich get richer, but if the crews themselves are getting more money to do so I don’t want to take work away from them.
I wonder what the viewer numbers would look like if CW did a better job televising the races? Twice this year I have been unable to watch a race live because the local CW affiliates (I have access to 2 of them) were showing either soccer or old sitcom reruns. The ad breaks are exceptionally long. Not conducive to a true enjoyment of the series. All in all. an unprofessional production.
Agreed, though for different reasons of incompetence. The local CW affiliate here has yet to preempt a race for other programming, but the picture quality is laughably bad. It looks like they’re broadcasting using a Quasar 2 head VCR they got from a Kmart Blue Light Special, circa 1982.
Interesting as well that multiple TV providers are now sneaking in 3 minute ad breaks, now that they have side by side with the ad and the broadcast. Was always 2 minutes before.
I don’t really mind Cup regulars in Xfinity. It’s fun to cheer for the regulars to beat the ringer. I DO mind them taking points and winnings away from Xfinity regulars.
Let ’em race, let ’em win, mark it in the record books, but give the driver points and winnings to the next highest finisher. I think we’d still see plenty of Cup regulars, as sponsorship is more lucrative than race winnings for most of them.
Sports car often does this, with part time teams eligible for wins, but not points. Mystifies me that NASCAR can’t seem to figure this out.
If NA$CAR could figure a way to make $$$$$ they would do it in a nanosecond.
The Busch series was nearly dead and gone, no real ability to attract major sponsors. So Cup drivers were put in Busch cars to attract sponsors and increase the fan base. It’s funny though fans don’t want Cup drivers in the field but cheer wildly for the rich kids whose rides were bought by daddy. In an interview a few years ago an Xfinity driver said he had no idea how he got to the Xfinity series since he had never won a race in his life in any car at any level. But what do you expect from fans who think even Norm Benning could jump in an F1 car and dominate because all NASCAR drivers are the greatest drivers that have ever lived, including country singer Marty Robbins who supposedly had hundreds of wins and Mike Joy even had rumors about him that he was once nicknamed the Terror of the Northeast with over 300 wins in NASCAR modifieds. Mike never said that but did say that the only racing he has done is SCCA parking lot time trials.